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Tourism is a service industry. It generates an income for some countries through a providing a range of jobs. People visiting places in their own country is referred to as domestic tourism, whereas international tourism is when other countries are visited.

Tourist destinations develop because they are attractive to people:

• Cities - contain shops, restaurants, bars, theatres, museums, famous buildings and nightlife. Top tourist destinations include London, Rome and Las Vegas.
• Coasts - beaches for sunbathing, the sea for water sports and an attractive environment for outdoor activities such as walking. Famous coastal resorts include Blackpool, Benidorm and Bondi beach in Australia.
• Mountains - spectacular views, rock climbing, walking, white water rafting in fast-flowing mountain rivers and skiing. Famous destinations include the Pennines, the Alps and the Himalayas.
• Climate - the Mediterranean climate has hot, dry summers, perfect for a beach holiday, whilst snow in the Alps provides ideal conditions for skiing.
• Resorts - such as Centre Parcs and Disneyland have attracted millions of visitors in recent years.
• Enclave tourism - all activities are planned within the same area, providing tourists with varied entertainment and excursions, without having to travel farther afield.

Tourism is the world's largest and fastest growing industry. Until recently it was an activity which was largely concentrated in the richer, high income countries of the world but it is increasingly becoming an important source of income in low and middle income countries.

The growth of tourism

Many factors have contributed to the growth in the tourist industry since the 1950s:

• leisure time - there has been an increase in the amount of paid leave days
• greater awareness - television travel programems have raised people's expectations
• increased life expectancy - there are a greater number of older people travelling
• greater affluence - people have more spending money
• travel - airfares in particular have become more affordable, even to far away destinations
• package holidays - growth has made booking easier and holidays more affordable
• internet - the growth of the internet has allowed people to research holiday destinations and make their own travel and accommodation arrangements
• cars - ownership has increased, giving greater freedom

As well as a change in the number of holidays people take, there has been a big change in the distance people are prepared to travel to visit places, the time of year people take holidays and the nature of holidays taken:

• faraway places such as Florida, Kenya, Thailand and even Antarctica have become potential tourist destinations
• ski resorts, once exclusive to the rich, attract increasing number of tourists
• there has been growth in short breaks, eg city breaks
• there has been a growth in the number of purpose-built resorts such as Bluestone with extensive indoor facilities that are not dependent on the weather
• there has also been a growth in business tourism with international business meetings and weekend motivational conferences